Christopher Charles Amoo (born 14 October 1952) is a British singer-songwriter and the lead singer of English soul group,

The Real Thing The Real Thing or Real Thing may refer to: Film and television * The Real Thing (film), ''The Real Thing'' (film) or ''Livers Ain't Cheap'', a 1996 American film * ''The Real Thing'', a 1980 television documentary by James Burke (science historian) ...

. He is also a dog breeder, and a judge at dog shows including

Crufts Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, first held in 1891. Organised and hosted by The Kennel Club, it is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is centred on a championship conformation show for do ...

, where he has had great success with his

Afghan Hound The Afghan Hound is a hound that is distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat and its tail with a ring curl at the end. The breed is selectively bred for its unique features in the cold mountains of Afghanistan. Its local name is ( ps, تاژ ...

, Viscount Grant.

Background

Amoo was born on 14 October 1952 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England. He comes from a mixed-race background, with a Ghanaian grandfather and an Irish grandmother. His elder brother Eddie Amoo was also a member of The Real Thing; he died 23 February 2018. Amoo is married to Julie Amoo née Mello.

Music

The Real Thing

As a member of The Real Thing, he had great success with "

You to Me Are Everything In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

", "

Can't Get By Without You "Can't Get By Without You" was a hit for The Real Thing in 1976. It was the follow-up to their smash hit " You to Me Are Everything". Background The song was written by Ken Gold and Mickey Denne and released on Pye 7N 45618. The B side, "(He's J ...

", and " Can You Feel the Force?". In March 1977, the song he co-wrote with his brother "You'll Never Know What You're Missing" was at No 23 in the ''Billboard'' chart, having been at No. 20 the previous week.

Solo

In 1981, his single "This Must Be Love", (a

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

composition) b/w "You'll Never Know What You're Missing" was released on the Precision label. In March 1984, a single recorded with Debby Bishop was released on

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

. The song "No Choir of Angels" was backed with "Love Talk". In April that year, along with Alan Price and others, he appeared in the final episode of a show hosted by

Marti Caine Marti Caine, born Lynne Denise Shepherd (26 January 1945 – 4 November 1995), was an English comedian, actress, dancer, presenter, singer, and writer, who first came to national attention by winning the television talent show ''New Faces'' in 1 ...

.BBC Genome Projec
Marti Caine, BBC Two England, 10 April 1984, Contributors
/ref>''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

, Tuesday 10 April 198
TV: Compiled by DAVID BELCHER, BBC2, 9.0 Marti Caine
/ref> In 1976, he sang on early versions of "Forever Autumn" and "Thunder Child" during Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds project. His vocal performances were never used.

Discography

Dog shows

As a successful dog breeder, he and his wife Julie Amoo entered their Afghan Hound, named Viscount Grant, into Crufts dog show, where he won the 1987 Best in Show title. Also that year he was one of the Easter Team Match judges at The Junior Handlers Club. In Crufts 2013, his Afghan hound won third place in its class. In 2015, he was a judge at the Irish Wolfhound, Levriero irlandese – 25th French Breed Show event. In May 2016, he was on the judges panel at the CAC show. Also in 2016, he was a judge at E.I.W.C 2016.

Television

Radio

Film

References

Interview with Ginger and Nuts, January 2021
Mixcloud
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amoo, Chris 1952 births Living people 21st-century Black British male singers Dog breeders Dog judges English male singer-songwriters English male singers English people of Ghanaian descent English people of Irish descent English soul singers